Light and chicken molting question?

[JULIE L CORWIN]

I know it takes light for the hen to lay and not heat.
So here my question?
If you have the proper amount of light in the coop for the chicken to lay eggs. You turn the lights off for the chicken to rest. Won't that start the chicken to molt in the darkness?
I want to try something new. I have always had light 24 hours a day in my coop for the chickens. It has NEVER been dark. I need as much advice before I try this. Please help!

 

[azygous]

First of all, layers do not need 24 hours of light per day to trigger egg laying hormones. As little as twelve hours a day will suffice.

Layers benefit from periods of restful darkness (night) just as humans do. I won't get into the physiology of it, but even baby chicks do better with natural day and night time darkness than 24 hour light in the brooder.

Therefore, turning off your light at night, shouldn't trigger molt, but since your chickens have never experienced darkness, it could.

I would suggest tapering back on the light gradually, rather than doing a drastic cut-off, until you achieve a natural balance of day and night. That may prevent molt until it naturally occurs as the days begin to shorten in late summer and fall, if that's when you experience shorter days where you live.

By the way, molt is triggered in hens on an individual basis. I live in Colorado where we're still experiencing 14 hours of light per day, and three of my hens are already in full fall molt.

 

[aart]

I know it takes light for the hen to lay and not heat.
So here my question?
If you have the proper amount of light in the coop for the chicken to lay eggs. You turn the lights off for the chicken to rest. Won't that start the chicken to molt in the darkness?
I want to try something new. I have always had light 24 hours a day in my coop for the chickens. It has NEVER been dark. I need as much advice before I try this. Please help!

That's interesting.
It's the change in light more than the amount that can trigger laying/molting.
@Ridgerunner can explain it much better than I.

I'm guessing that even ramping down the light slowly is going to trigger a molt...and depending on how long they've been lit 24/7 they may well be in need of a good molt/break.

Curious about:
How old are birds?
How long has 'never' been?
Are you in the northern hemisphere(add your location to your profile?)?